A co-worker and I did the traditional counter-clockwise loop. Though the temperature was nice, the visibility sucked I typically have a hard time finding the right trails, so I had a printout of several previous trip descriptions with me. I had no problem finding either end of the Black Mesa trail.
However, the trail is a bit deceptive at times. The Second Water trail does head North before it intersects with the Black Mesa trail; for a while I thought I missed the sign. There are remains of a Native American structure just northeast of the Second Water/Black Mesa turnoff (see photo).

The intersection with the Lost Dutchman trail was the one I was worried about, but we did not see any significant side trails to get lost on. The sign was right where I expected it to be, just South of the wash.

The solitude is great; we only saw about 10 other hikers on the whole trip, except very near the parking lot. I'm glad I did this one before it got too hot!